UK wages rise faster than expected

Wages saw faster than expected growth in the three months to July, as they continued to outstrip rising prices.
Excluding bonuses, wages grew by 2.9%, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), well above the inflation rate.
Earnings have now outstripped inflation for several months.
Unemployment continued to fall, dropping by 55,000 to 1.36 million, with the employment rate remaining at its lowest level for over 40 years.
The number of people in work remained unchanged at 32.4 million.
The ONS said the labour market remained "robust" with those in work "still at historically high levels".
"With the number of people in work little changed, employment growth has weakened," said the ONS's head of labour market statistics, David Freeman.
"Meanwhile, earnings have grown faster than prices for several months, especially looking at pay excluding bonuses."
The inflation rate for the three-month period to July was 2.4%, with the rate for just July slightly higher at 2.5%.
Andrew Wishart, UK economist at Capital Markets, said the figures indicated that "competition for workers is finally starting to provide greater support to wages".
"We still think that the MPC will hold off raising interest rates again until the near-term uncertainty due to the Brexit negotiations is resolved," he added.
The Bank of England raised its key interest rate for only the second time in a decade last month. The 0.75% current interest rate is the highest level since March 2009.
Yesterday economic growth hit 0.6%, the best number since July last year.
Today, incomes are up 2.9%, a figure that has not been bettered since July 2015.
With inflation for the month of July at 2.5%, real wage growth (which accounts for price rises) rose to 0.5% between May and July.
High levels of employment could finally be passing through to our incomes as firms compete for our work.
It will take a long time to repair the damage to incomes over the decade since the financial crisis.
But with economic growth stronger and the possibility of some form of Brexit deal rising, this is certainly better news for the economy overall.
Higher wages can feed through to higher levels of consumer spending. And consumer spending drives around two-thirds of what happens in the economy.
The ONS also said job vacancies rose by 14,000 in the period to 833,000 - a record high.
Suren Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said this was "alarmingly high" and "further evidence of persistent skills shortages".
"While the number of people in work stands close to historic highs, firms continue to report that attempting to recruit staff with the right skills is an increasingly uphill struggle, which is stifling their ability to grow and boost productivity," he added.